Apple Could Add New U.S. Carriers Within a Year

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is likely to add new U.S. carriers for the iPhone within a year, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster asserts in a research note Monday. He sees the end of the exclusive relationship with AT&T (NYSE:T) coming in connection with a new product launch next summer. Munster says that in countries where the phone is sold through multiple carriers, the company gets much higher market share than in those with exclusive deals - and that the higher sell-through more than offsets the weaker economics of non-exclusive agreements.

There has been repeated speculation that the company will add Verizon (NYSE:VZ) next year once the exclusive arrangement with Apple ends; back in June, Bernstein Research speculated that the company could double the number of iPhones sold in the U.S. is it cuts a deal with Verizon, though with a smaller profit per phones.